When the summer blooms on the balcony gradually dwindle, it's time for new arrangements for the boxes on the railing. After all, you want things to continue to be beautiful! What could you plant in the balcony box for autumn and winter?
Colorful flowers or green plants or those with colorful foliage bring the necessary pizzazz to the balcony and should definitely not be missing. Whether you want to make it colorful or prefer more monochrome arrangements is of course up to you. The only important thing is that you choose species that can withstand the low temperatures to come.
How to prepare the balcony box for autumn and winter
So that the new specimens really feel comfortable in the boxes, you have to prepare them well. What exactly does that mean?
- The old plants come out and are disposed of.
- Remove the old potting soil.
- Good water drainage is particularly important during wet seasons. For this purpose, the drainage from the previous planting can remain in the box or be replaced as desired, but it must not be missing under any circumstances.
- Obtain fresh potting soil.
- Fertilizer is unnecessary.
Tipp:Add early blooming bulbs to the boxes. You can use them in larger potsaccording to the lasagne principleeven practically layering.
And what flowers can Inow plant in balcony boxes?
Balcony box for autumn and winter: Autumnal flowers that decorate until winter
Autumn still offers numerous colorful autumn flowers that provide bright colors in the autumn/winter plants in the balcony box. Most of them can withstand the low temperatures for quite a long time and then have to be replaced. Others are more robust (see list below), but can also be planted in autumn. The following specimens are (partially) suitable for the balcony box for autumn and winter:
Beautiful autumn flowers for the balcony box:
- Aster (Aster)
- Common heather/heather (Calluna vulgaris)
- Variegated Caucasus forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla)
- Chrysantheme (Chrysanthemum)
- Christrose (Helleborus niger)
- fat man (Pachysandra terminalis)
- Elfenblume (Epimedium)
- Fat Her (Sedum)
- Functions (Hosta)
- heather plants (Erica) are popular fall plants that are hardy
- houseleek (Forever living)
- Lantern Blume (Physalis alkekengi)
- purple bells (Heuchera)
- Silberblatt (Senecio cineraria)
- barbed wire (Leucophyta brownii)
- Ornamental grasses
- ornamental cabbage (Brassica oleracea)
- ornamental peppers (Potatoes)
You can create interesting arrangements by combining flowering plants with those with foliage and ornamental grasses. Also try combining standing with hanging or crawling specimens to create versatile compositions at different heights/levels while also maintaining a beautiful color and textural interplay. Especially when the balcony boxes are hanging on the railingHardy hanging plants are a wonderful idea.
Autumn/winter planting for the balcony box – these flowers also defy the winter cold
So that the autumn/winter plants for the balcony box can decorate your balcony throughout the entire season, the plants should of course be particularly hardy. This is a rarity, especially in a container that is exposed to the cold from all sides. Which flowers and plants are sufficiently winter hardy?Planting from the balcony boxfor autumn and winter?
Examples of winter-proof balcony plants include:
- cyclamen (Peach cyclamen)
- Besenheide (Calluna vulgaris)
- Christrose (Helleborus niger), comes in white, pink and red
- ivy (Ivy helix)
- bell heather (Erica tetralix)
- Gunsel (Ajuga Reptans)
- (Herbst-) Ass (Carex)
- Japanese flower skimmia (Skimmia japonica)
- Japanese spindle bush (Euonymus japonicus)
- Kiwi-Knöterich (Muehlenbeckia axillaris), hanging
- creeping spindle (Euonymus fortunei)
- purple bells (Heuchera)
- Samtheide
- Silberblatt (Senecio cineraria)
- mock berry (Gaultheria reclining)
- Schwingel (Fescue)
- Silver wire plant (Calocephalus brownii)
- barbed wire (Calocephalus Brownii)
- pansies (Viola); alternatively horned violets
- Strawflower (Helichrysum thianschanicum)
- Hardy Erica (Erica darleyensis)
- spurge (Euphorbia cultivar)
Winter-hardy permanent plants for balcony boxes
If you choose evergreen and winter-hardy balcony box plants with decorative foliage, you will get the perfect winter-hardy permanent planting for balcony boxes that do not have to be replaced after every season. Ivy, sedum and other hardy succulents, heather and heuchera, for example, are such plants. In between you can alsosome permanent bloomersset. However, keep in mind that sooner or later they will no longer have flowers.
No matter which permanent, winter or autumn planting you choose for the balcony, always pay attention to the site conditions. Species that thrive in the shade should never be placed on the sunny south or west side of the balcony.
Now that summer is coming to an end, you should think about balcony design for the coming seasons. And flowers and plants that are suitable for the balcony box for autumn and winter are a wonderful help to bring nature onto the balcony even in the cold months. With the right arrangements, you can create long-lasting blooms or even a permanent planting that you will hardly have to worry about in the future. At least there is no need for constant replacement.
